Bed quality (how much, price, pillow, mattresses)

[Patricia Ayde]

Which bed is most comfortable and supportive, along with good warranty, for a heavy person?

[heymikey]

My family certainly qualifies in the weight department... Over the years we tried several different beds, including a waterbed, all foam, inner spring, etc. We always had problems--poor support, backache, and they all wore out so quickly. I hate to sound like a commercial, but we bought a Select Comfort and have been happy with it for ~13 years. We both have back problems, and the improvement was amazing and nearly immediate. The thing we had to learn was that you don't need a "firm" mattress to get good support: the mattress will support you at any pressure, just a question of how much it conforms to your form; don't be afraid to try the lower pressure settings. Years ago, Consumer Reports recommended you should try out a mattress for a minimum of 30 min in the store; If that sounds creepy (it does to me) you really do need to spend enough time "sleep-testing" a bed for your muscles and joints to relax to get an idea of how well it's going to work for you.

We bought nearly the cheapest model they made at the time, and found that the "pillow top" (what they called it--not what it was) seemed to compress over the first 5-6 years, and added a memory 2" foam topper that has kept us happy for the last 7 or so years. My son and his wife bought a higher-up model ~4 years ago, one with a "real" pillow top, and I have to say it seems to be a better mattress in every way. One problem we had was compression of the foam bolsters that form the mattress edges. Tho' it's only been 4 years for them, theirs still seems to be performing better than ours. I guess the take-home message is, buy the best you can afford (or maybe a little more).

just my 2¢
heymikey

[Iggier]

Yep - Select Comfort/Sleep Number. I have the base model and though it's about 12 years old, it's as good as new. I'm not heavy but it suits all body sizes and types .

[Billy_J]

For a mattress, you get what you pay for. I paid $400 for a mattress and box spring over 15 years ago and it still feels very comfortable. And that at the time was one of the highest priced mattresses in the store. I just keep flipping it over and rotating it a couple of times a year.

And I chose that by laying on different mattresses and that one felt the best. Note that is an "old fashioned" mattress, not that foam memory or whatever (I don't know how long those last).